Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit: $2.5 Billion Loss Is "Progress"

Citigroup wrote off $7 billion in the second quarter. But, hey, that’s an improvement!

New York Times: Citigroup said Friday morning that it lost $2.5 billion, or 54 cents a share, in the second quarter.

The loss was largely caused by $7.2 billion of write-downs of Citigroup’s investments in mortgages and other loans and by a weakness in the consumer market, which cost Citigroup $4.4 billion in credit losses and $2.5 billion to increase reserves. Analysts had expected a loss of 66 cents a share.

But the chief executive, Vikram Pandit, positioned the $2.5 billion loss as progress. Last quarter, the financial conglomerate lost $5.1 billion.

“We cut our second-quarter losses in half compared to the first quarter,” Mr. Pandit said in a statement. “While there is still much to do, we are encouraged by our progress.”